Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the budget has allocated Rs 23,778 crore for railway projects in the state, including Mumbai. This investment aims to enhance train services, increasing the current 3,200 services by 10 percent, with the total number of services set to surpass 3,500 in the near future.
New trains are being introduced to make local travel more convenient for Mumbaikars, with designs aimed at creating a more comfortable and enjoyable atmosphere. Additionally, the signalling system is being upgraded to minimize the time interval between trains, facilitating an increase in local services. As a result, the headway, currently at 180 seconds, will be reduced to 150 seconds and eventually to 120 seconds.
The proposed railway projects in Mahamumbai and their estimated costs (in crores) are as follows:
- Kurla-CSMT 5th-6th Line: Rs 891 crore
- Mumbai Central-Borivali 6th Line: Rs 919 crore
- Extension of Goregaon-Borivali Harbour: Rs 826 crore
- Borivali-Virar 5th-6th Line: Rs 2,184 crore
- Virar-Dahanu 3rd-4th Line: Rs 2,782 crore
- Panvel-Karjat: Rs 2,782 crore
- Airoli-Kalwa: Rs 476 crore
- Kalyan-Asangaon 4th Line: Rs 476 crore
- Kalyan-Badlapur 3rd-4th Line: Rs 17,059 crore
- Kalyan-Kasara 3rd Line: Rs 1,510 crore
- Naigaon-Juchandra Double Cord Line: Rs 176 crore
- Welfare Separation: Rs 886 crore
- Nilje-Kopar Double Chord Line: Rs 338 crore
Total Cost: Rs 17,107 crore